By Michael Giacchino and Nami Melumad

Disney, out now

The God of Thunder scores another hit…

The first impression on seeing the cover – or the credit if you’ve seen the film – is “Are there actually any other composers working in movies right now?” as Giacchino seems to have scored pretty much everything over spring and summer.

The first impression on hearing the soundtrack is “that was a typo, then, cos this is obviously a new and awesome composer at work.”

We’ve come a long way since the subtler melodies that Patrick Doyle provided for Kenneth Branagh’s original Thor movie, and this is a wild and wonderful ride through all manner of musical genres. Seriously, we start with some mysterious tones, evolving into a building rhythmic chant that has a vibe of “Rains Of Castamere”, before crashing through some threatening John Carpenter style beats, and into wild 80s hair metal guitar, and soaring leitmotifs… Oh, this isn’t a summary of the album. That’s just the first track!

This is a different kind of score for Giacchino, as it’s a collaboration between he and Star Trek Strange New Worlds and Star Trek Prodigy composer Nami Melumad. It is, if you like Giacchino, Jim, but not as we know it. As per the credits on the album cover, Giacchino composed themes for all the main characters and settings, and then he and Melumad used those themes as a base for the individual score tracks and suites.

This is a great move for fans of thematic music and leitmotifs, as we get a lovely set of distinctive themes for each character, all clear and identifiable for each character, from Thor’s “Rains of Castamere”-ish melody, through Jane’s more evocative and romantic theme, all the way to Gorr’s villainous dark voice chant – though even that gets less dark and ominous when you realise (headphone listening helps with this) that the four-word chant is actually “Gorr’s A Big Bad.”

The pair have given us great fun tracks across a bunch of mostly cheerful musical genres and influences: “Zeus Fanfares” sounds like it belongs at the opening of something like Jason And The Argonauts by dint of having that Herrman-like boom and bombast reaching for the heavens, while the hard rock electric guitars bring us some joyous moments too, and all the time referencing the appropriate themes clearly and memorably. This one is the aural equivalent of great colourful comics’ splash pages, which, to be fair, is pretty much exactly what a Marvel superhero score ought to be.

As with the score for Spider-Man No Way Home, this has a wrap-up suite at the end, which is another highlight, reprising all of those great themes and even some of the wondrous and introspective bits. Be aware, though, that the album does not include either the Guns N Roses or Dio tracks used in the film and in publicity.

Verdict: It’s not really, in the true sense, a Giacchino score, because it’s a Giacchino/Melumad collaboration, and that means it’s got new verve, new twists and tricks. Well, except for the painful puns as track titles, of course. But overall, and a fresh and uplifting heroic and slightly campy score, making it ideal summer listening. 10/10

David A McIntee